


Light of Ryuvia

by Walkerged



Category: Final Fantasy XIV, Sunrider (Visual Novel/Strategy games)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-30 10:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13950081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkerged/pseuds/Walkerged
Summary: An alternate sort of cross over story line.  Mostly a mental doodle of something I cooked up to let me save Haurchefant's life at the end of The Vault.  Also, while I plan on making some chapters with wooing and dating there will be some chapters I'll leave warnings on eventually, but I'm not planning on making anything too lurid.  I want to keep it at a level my very Mormon daughter won't mind reading.





	1. Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> The Sunrider series of Visual Novel games were created/developed by Love In Space. http://forum.loveinspace.moe/ and http://sunrider-vn.com/  
> Final Fantasy XIV was created/developed by Square Enix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting instincts he'd carefully honed over many years told Haurchefant an attack was coming, and caused his body to pivot around searching for the source. A knight of the Heavens Ward had taken position on a decorative corner overhang just outside of the line of sight from the tower entrance opening onto the wide stone walkway that made an excellent airship landing site. 
> 
> With a cry Haurchefant began to run toward the Warrior of Light. While wishing to The Twelve that he would make it in time Haurchefant felt something hit him with such force that his body was thrown into the petite Au'Ra he'd come to love, causing the two of them to tumble together into a heap on the stone tiles. Closing his eyes Haurchefant wrapped his arms around Tessa, and tried to curl his body protectively over hers.

The past week for the Gods' Quiver and Woods Wailers had been unusual to say the least. Double the number of guards posted to the city gates with whole platoons assigned to patrolling the streets of Gridania the city began to feel more like the encampment of an army preparing for war than the capital of the normally peaceful woodland city-state. Had anyone other than the seriously dour Captain of his company delivered that mornings briefing Bertennant would have accused the officer of sampling random wild mushrooms. Bertennant still wondered about the unusual nature of briefing, and what sort of unusual method the strangers he was supposed to greet sometime that day would use to arrive. 

"Hopefully they get here before the eighth bell of the Afternoon Watch, so I can get back to the barracks while dinner is still warm," Bertennant said, unintentionally stating his thoughts out loud. 

No sooner had the words left Bertennant's mouth when he heard an unfamiliar crackling sound. Looking around Bertennant saw a circle forming of small lightning like threads. He quickly motioned to the additional guards, who nodded their heads and moved quickly to keep anyone from attempting to enter New Gridania while the unusual phenomenon lasted. Other members of the Gods' Quiver and Wood Wailers who'd been posted to guard duty nearby, and off-duty members who'd been relaxing in the Carline Canopy also moved to keep citizens and travelers inside New Gridania at what they hoped was a safe distance.

With a temporary perimeter zone established Bertennant slowly and carefully approached, and circled around the strange circle. He found the odd circle to be disconcertingly flat, and when looking through the circle toward the Blue Badger Gate Bertennant saw a white circle forming inside of the circle that seemed to be made of lightning. Unable to believe his eyes he moved to look through the circle from the side facing the city gate, and saw no sign of the white circle. Scratching his head in confusion Bertennant walked back to where he was looking through the circle toward the Blue Badger Gate, and watched the strange circles grow until both circles were nearly seven fulms across. 

Bertennant and almost everyone witnessing the strange event gasped in surprise when Four people stepped out of the white circle. They seemed to be Hyuran in appearance, two males and two females wearing clothing made from a fabric with check like blotches that seemed to shift to match the colors of the ground and shrubbery around the quartet. They also wore something similar to pot-helms on their heads with thick vests covered in same type of cloth over their torsos. Bertennant and others nearby at first took both of the males to be adults, with the shorter male standing just over five and a half fulms tall, but after slightly more scrutiny it was clear his cheeks had yet to feel the kiss of a razor's edge. The Females seemed to both be in their womanhood, with the slightly shorter female seeming to have entered the fullness of maidenhood. The taller male and female both held something at in at an angle that looked both similar to and nothing like the muskets the Order of the Twin Adder had recently begun issuing. 

When the four coming out of the white circle had their feet firmly on the ground the two circles behind them disappeared with a momentary thunder like clap accompanied by a sound similar to rushing winds or water. The four seemed to be looking around slowly taking in the view in front of them, and talking in soft surprised tones with each other. However, Bertennant was sure he heard them say Gridania. 

Thinking back to the morning briefing Bertennant remembered the visitors were supposed to be greeted with the same courtesy and respect afforded Royal visitors and other Heads of State. Slightly shaking his head Bertennant stepped forward to fulfill his duty, but wondered where such strangely outfitted persons could possibly be royal sovereigns. 

Momentarily unable to make himself give a verbal greeting fitting his orders Bertennant opted to delay by bowing to the quartet, while trying to quickly string together something that seemed appropriate. After raising himself back to a normal standing position and clearing his throat he began.

"Uhm, travelers coming to us from unknown distant lands, in the name of our Elder Seedseer I humbly bid you welcome to Gridania."

Bertennant then made the saluting gesture used by the Order of the Twin Adder, the military and police keeping force the Gridanian City-State, while assuming his best parade grounds position of attention. To the surprise of everyone nearby the taller of the two lifted their right hand from the grip of the object both strangers were holding at an angle. The older male visitor responded by raising his hand until the tip of his forefinger touched the brim of his helmet near the area closest to the corner of his eye, with the fingers held together, the thumb held in line with the fingers and snug along the hand, holding the forearm in straight line from the tips of the fingers to the elbow, and the upper arm held horizontal to the ground. Bertennant and others within hearing nearly jumped when the stranger spoke.

"At ease soldier," the older looking male said in a clear carrying voice that caused some of the patrons who hadn't previously left the Carline Canopy to look out of the wide entryway opening to the inn and adventurers guild level of the building.

The clearly female, visitor than took off the helmet covering her head, and shook her head side to side while combing the fingers of one hand through her brilliant red hair. Then with the help of a strap she let rifle like the object she'd been holding hang across her chest and produced two thin blue ribbons, which she used to tie two tails in her hair just behind and above each ear. 

The older male newcomer stepped forward with his right hand extended out to Bertennant in a gesture that wasn't unfamiliar to the peoples living on the continent of Eorzea. In that moment, as though in slow motion, Bertennant saw the eyes of both strangers begin brilliantly glowing in slightly different shades of blue, watched them pull the musket like objects they were carrying to their shoulders while pivoting around to face toward Blue Badger Gate, and push their younger companions behind them just before a horde of creatures with mixed features of both plant and animal species native to the Black Shroud forest broke up out of the ground around the gate. Bertennant was then momentarily blinded by an extremely bright flash of light followed by several ground shaking thunderous explosions. The air was then filled with the scents of burning plants, flesh, and ozone.

As his sight slowly returned and the ringing in his ears quieted Bertennant became aware of the warning horns and bells used during emergencies coming from all directions of both Old and New Gridania, and some of the small settlements near the capital of the city-state. Putting the linkpearl used by the city-state's forces to coordinate the response to an emergency to his ear Bertennant heard a cacophony of voices reporting similar attacks, with some accompanied by panicked requests for reinforcements. Near the middle of the now broken Blue Badger Gate atop a smoking pile of the dead attacking creatures stood a white and red colored armored giant discharging cannon like weapons with rolling thunderous staccato bursts.

Bertennant felt something wrap around his upper arm, and looked down at a large armored hand before looking up at the face plate of the man sized power armor like Ryder that had appeared on the older male. While trying to gently help Bertennant back up the stranger extended his free arm where an infantry sized auto-cannon appeared in his armored hand, and fired shells arcing up into the air in the general direction of the White Wolf Gate and the Twin Adder Barracks. Outside of his line of sight Bertennant and others in the general area didn't see the ancient Lost Tech Smart Shells divide into miniature millimeter sized rockets lancing into the bodies of the nightmarish hoard pouring through the splintered remains of the nearest entrance in New Gridania to the Lotus Stand like thousands of silvery stainless steel needles before exploding in a great columns of flame.

The sensor results displayed on the HUD of the original prototype Ryder showed Joshua his improvised artillery strike had caused the column of cybernetic drones to temporarily retreat, and regroup in the area around the fork in the road outside the gate. The Ryder was given to Joshua as a wedding present by a monastic order on the day he and Asaga were married. The curious group had been founded by a Divine Emperor of the Holy Ryuvian Empire, an ancestor of Joshua's, and one of the few Divine Emperors who isn't an ancestor of Joshua's wife Asaga Di Ryuvia (aka Asaga Oakrun) Princess of Ryuvia Prime.

"Josh, I can hold this area with m'ah Black Jack. You think you can do something about that other large group?.

"Acknowledged Bravo Juliet, not a problem. Hey, do you have eyes on the kids? My HUD has their IFF markers right on top your's, but I don't see them anywhere down here." 

"Ummm, sort of maybe." Asaga replied. "Black Jack says they're on board, but they sure aren't here in the cockpit."

Michelle, Joshua's oldest child and Asaga's Stepdaughter, decided she had chime in. "Dad, I'm pretty sure Caleb and I are inside Black Jack. Didn't the monks say some of the lost tech they were installing allowed them to add passenger pods?."

Bertennant regaining his senses started barking at the nearby Wood Wailers and bowmen of the Gods Quiver ordering them to begin forming a defensive line when Joshua leapt with a bound that left two deep divots in the sod, and carried him soaring higher than anyone in the nearby crowd who'd never seen a Dragoon thought possible. As Joshua landed on the path in front of the Twin Adder Barracks the concussion wave of two Imperial era Ryuvian assault class infantry shuttles decelerating from hyper-sonic speeds shattered glass windows throughout the forest nation, and cracked windows as far away as the city of Ul'Dah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I used the Chapter summary as a sort of prologue previewing the eventual destination of this story.


	2. Trouble With a Capital T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Creatures seemingly made from an amalgamation of other forest creatures have burst out of the ground in various areas in and around the city of Gridania. Are they truly a mindless horde randomly attacking the city-state, or is this the precursor to invasion by a previously unknown enemy.

Captain Gairhard felt the additional patrols being made into the areas near Gridania presented an excellent opportunity for the platoons under his command to engage in field training exercises where the greener recruits could be drilled in the relatively safe Central Shroud area of the Black Shroud Forrest. The route march on the dirt path going east from the fork below the Blue Badger Gate around the Jadeite Thick began as planned before sunrise after first bell of the first morning watch bell. The column maintained a well ordered interval with almost no interruption to the pace of the cadence sung out by the First Sargent when the company began passing over the small bridge on the East Vein river near Gilbert's Spire.

After passing over the river the platoons under the watchful eyes of the senior Non-Commissioned and Commissioned Officers practiced different formations in the different kinds of landscapes found near Gabineaux's Bower and Greentear.

After the fourth bell of the Forenoon Watch the First Sargent approached Captain Gairhard, and stopped without saluting since the field exercise was being conducted as a combat deployment.

Standing at an even six fulms with shoulders two ilms wider than most Hyurans First Sargent Emil Fornier was a rare giant of a M'Quote, and was also the last living member of a nomadic Keepers of the Moon tribe that once called Ala Mhigo home. Emil befriended Gairhard when they both arrived in the Black Shroud as refugees fleeing the occupation of Ala Mhigo by the Garlean Empire, and enlisted in the Order of the Twin Adder together. As a child, the event that orphaned Emil was so traumatic he couldn't remember anything about his family or his own name.

"Sir, may I suggest taking an hour or two break. The squads could use some rest, and some time check on equipment and have any injuries treated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information on one or more Wikis refer to Gairhard as a Twin Adder Squad Leader with the rank of Captain, I decided for this story he's in command of an infantry company. Because of the time I spent in the US Army Reserves when I was younger it just doesn't feel right to have a commissioned officer with the rank of Captain to be in command of anything smaller than a company.
> 
> For time keeping I decided the easiest course was to use the US Navy FAQ chart http://www.navy.mil/navydata/questions/bells.html since the information I found online about the use of bells in medieval time keeping revolved around religious rituals and prayers.
> 
> I'm sorry, I spent more time researching than actually adding to this chapter.


End file.
